Found guilty of wilfully hindering Police

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 8, Issue 372, 5 February 1991, Page 15

Found guilty of wilfully hindering Police

The following defended case was heard by Judge Laing of Palmerston North in the Ohakune District Court last month. Police sergeant Bob Evans of Ohakune appeared for the prosecution and Mr Brian Mason appeared as defence counsel. Clyde William Selwyn Rennie, 18, of Rangataua pleaded not guilty to one charge of wilfully hindering Constable Peter Gardner of Raetihi in the execution of his powers under the Misuse of Drugs Act and one charge of possession of cannabis. Both charges related to an incident in the early hours of Saturday 3 November. The first prosecution witness was Police Constable Robert Dowman who was at that time a police recruit at the Police Training College in Porirua. He told the court that as a result of what he had observed in Raetihi (a parked car in Duncan street near the local Power Board yard) while on home leave on the night in question, he had contacted Constable Peter Gardener, Raetihi's sole charge constable. He later saw Constable Gardner arrive, approach the car and speak to the driver. He saw Constable Gardner remove an object wrapped in tinfoil from the glovebox and heard him ask; "What's this?" He then heard defendant reply; "It's mine" He told the Court that he heard defendant agree to a personal search but when Constable Gardner asked defendant, who was now standing beside the car, "What's that in the waistband of your

pants?", defendant had sworn at him and attempted to run off. After a brief struggle defendant managed to slip out of Constable Gardner' s grasp and run off into a nearby housing area. Witness then accompanied Constable Gardner back to the vehicle where it was immobilised (by removing the rotor arm) and secured. The next prosecution witness was Constable Gardner who said that after receiving a call at 2.45am, Saturday 3 November he went to the Power Board yard beside Duncan Street where he saw a vehicle with only one occupant (the defendant) in it. When speaking to the defendant he noticed the smell of cannabis smoke and on searching the car, found a cannabis 'bullet' in the glove-box and, when asked, defendant had replied; "It's mine" (He also found a few sheets of tin foil in the glove box). After asking defendant if he agreed to be searched in person under the Misuse of Drugs Act, witness said he noticed the belt of defendant's jeans was undone and a 'large object' was tucked into the waistband under his T Shirt. When asked what the object was defendant had replied "F... off and attempted to run away but witness managed to bring him to the ground. However, after struggling violently, defendant managed to escape, leaving behind his sweatshirt and T shirt. He ran off towards a housing area with the two witnesses in pursuit but managed to evade them.

Constable Gardner said he returned to the defendant's vehicle and secured it. Next morning he returned to the vehicle and found the defendant, with others, was already there. When asked again about the ownership of the 'bullet' found in the glove-box, defendant denied it was his and refused to make a statement after he had been arrested and cautioned. The defendant, Clyde Rennie, then took the stand. He told the court that he had attended a party nearby the previous evening but had been advised by other partygoers to go and have a sleep because he'd had too much to drink. He had gone to his parked car before midnight, had fallen asleep and had been asleep when Constable Gardner woke him. Under cross examination he told the court that he had owned the vehicle for about two weeks and it was very clean when he bought it. He said he had carried a lot of passengers,"too many to count," after purchasing the vehicle and many of these had sat in the front passenger seat (near the glovebox). He didn't recall being asked about the ownership of the "bullet" and denied saying "It's mine". He also denied having any package or object tucked into the waistband of his jeans. He admitted to using the glove-box quite often..."that's where I keep my cigarettes".

i The second defence witness was Erin Hawira who gave evidence that he had travelled in defendant's car many times and had sometimes been alone in the vehicle when the defendant was absent. The third defence witness was Darryl Wayne Pickery who also said he had often been a passenger in defendant's vehicle and, on the night in question, had taken him to his car from the party "because he was drunk". In his summing up Judge Laing said Constable Gardner had been entirely within his rights as a police officer under the Misuse of Drugs Act when, as a result of smelling cannabis smoke, he suspected an offence had occurred and decided to conduct a search of both the defendant's car and person. He said it was very unlikely that the presence of sheets of tin foil in the glove-box would have been overlooked by the person who cleaned the car before selling it nor by the new owner (defendant) who, by his own admission, often used the glove box to store and retrieve his cigarettes. He also said that defendant's ability to run off and evade the two pursuing police constables "speaks for a remarkable recovery from a drunken state (as claimed) some 2-3 hour earlier."

He explained that a person does not have to be found in personal possession of cannabis for that charge to be

brought; if the defendant knew about the 'bullet' in his glove-box he was in 'temporary custody' of it and could be charged with the offence of possession. On evidence before the Court both charges had been proved.

Defendant was convicted and fined $100, court costs $65 on the possession charge. He was convicted and fined $300, court costs $65 on the resisting charge. He was also disqualified from driving for 3 months.